First Oil Painting Ever

I have done it. I took the plunge. Witness my first foray into the crazy, high-maintenance world of painting in oils.

My subject is a garbage block from Tetris Attack. The idea is

to make a blue one for my brother (for his birthday, which has just happened), and a red one for me. We used to play this game all the time together. And his favorite color was always blue and mine was always red. Anyway, here's my progress and stuff. I only used three colors: French Ultramarine, Vermillion, and Mixed White. This was mainly so I wouldn't go crazy trying to mix a bunch of fancy colors that would end up looking like gray mud.

First test. After I painted this, I had a breakdown of "I am so terrible at this. Why did I only give myself a week to learn oil painting before I try to make some

thing that's supposed to be presentable?"

Second test. Tried to mix some red into his face, which didn't work. I also learned that white really de-chromas the vivid, beautiful blue. Must use sparingly on the final piece. (And I need to pick up some kind of yellow for the red version. Do not want pink.)

Final Painting. Sorry for the glare--not the best lighting conditions. All in all, I'm pretty darned happy with the result. I was stoked to give this to my bro on his birthday this weekend, and when it finally dries, I'm sure he'll be stoked to have something to hang on his wall, finally! (Like I'm one to talk...)